Arnaud Thieffry, Liar

Arnaud Thieffry, some French government official, was on Hannity & Colmes tonight. I feel like my dad, sitting here yelling "Liar!" at the TV. He said that if we "give up" on the UN, then there’s going to be "anarchy everywhere." This guy is either a blabbering imbecile, or he’s a liar. The UN does not and has not done a darn thing to keep peace anywhere. In fact there are notable examples of the UN having failed to do just that. It’s absolutely ridiculous to say that giving up on the UN will cause anarchy.

He also said multiple times that "Europe" disagrees with this or that, or "Europe" feels this or that about the US. It’s a farce. France is not Europe, and Europe is not France. There are quite a few European countries who support the US. France is painting this as "the US vs. the world" when that’s not even close to the case.

Further, he said he doesn’t know why France has been singled out as the focus of the US’s frustrations. Which is, of course, a blatant lie -- he knows exactly why. He made the ridiculous argument that the US should not punish France economically because of their actions, and asked the straw man question "Why doesn’t the US do that to Mexico, Canada, etc.?" There’s a difference between disagreeing with the US (Mexico, Canada) and actively preventing the enforcement of UN resolutions, making a mockery of that organization, and painting the US as unilateral when that’s an outright lie (France). So point #1 here is that France’s role was unique and entirely different from that of other countries in this situation.

Point #2 is that it’s ridiculous to suggest that we should not economically punish France, or should not treat them less warmly (to say the least) than we have in the past. Nearly 80% of Americans support this war, and you can bet that a good portion of those people are upset about the circus Chirac has created. You can bet a lot of Americans are upset that France not only isn’t supporting the US, but is acting directly against us and against the enforcement of UN resolutions. Of course France doesn’t have to support us in any way. The point is that that gate swings both ways -- we don’t have to support them either. France has been the leader of the weasels, and they will pay for that. And it’s not about revenge, it’s about making an example of them. The US needs to send a message to the world that it’s not cheap and easy and fun to treat us like crap, as the French have. Every action has consequences; it’s as simple as that.